Halo: Specter
by Biyote
Summary: SPARTAN Team Specter descends on a human colony on the planet Nenvari to rescue the surviving settlers, but things quickly go awry.


**Halo: Specter**

[0500 hours. 5:00 AM - Colony Opus, Outer Planet Nenvari-B, 2542]

Washington, Stone and Wolf crept through the forest, under the cover of night. The moon shone brightly on them, the light glinting off pieces of their heavy SPARTAN armor.

They'd split off from Beta Team roughly ten minutes ago. Beta's directive was to scout the eastern route to the Target. Wash's team, Alpha, was scouting the western route. They were quickly descending further and further into a medium-sized canyon that stretched far up into the cold night's air.

"Shit. These walls are gonna block our comms with Beta." Stone said quietly.

Wash replied, "Relax. We won't lose contact for long. It's a short walk through here. We'll regroup soon enough."

They all had their weapons drawn; Wash and Stone, standard-issue UNSC DMR battle rifles. Wolf, a UNSC tactical pump-action shotgun. His favorite.

Wolf's armor was beaten and dented in some places — souvenirs of his past missions. Covenant, rebel forces, you name it — he was there. On his left arm, tally marks scratched into the armor, reaching into the dozens. None of Specter Team really knew what they meant.

Wash had thought they might be the amount of Covenant special forces he'd killed. Everyone had a theory. None had been proven or disproven, as Wolf never talked.

The lack of communication had proved to be a pain in the ass on far more than one occasion, but his laser-focus, mixed with his lack of remorse in killing Covenant, and his incredible SPARTAN abilities made him a force of nature.

Jameson, who was currently scouting with Beta, had gotten into a heated, somewhat one-sided argument with the silent SPARTAN several months back, and Wolf had broken Jameson's jaw, and cracked two of his ribs by the end of it.

While Wolf had never said a word to any other the other SPARTANs of Specter Team, he was still their most valuable asset.

Wash, Stone and Wolf stepped softly through the canyon, their heavy metal boots sinking into puddles of water and mud.

Alpha Team's comm line went off.

"Wash— Thin— Ere's— cloaked— Peat— Cove— Forc— Careful—" Jameson said through the comm lines.

Though garbled, it had sounded like he'd warned Alpha Team of cloaked Covenant forces in the canyon.

"Stay alert. Watch anything that shines, glimmers, or reflects. It could be hostile." Wash said as he raised his assault rifle.

Wolf and Stone nodded, and raised their weapons as well. Stone heard small rocks and dirt shifting behind them. He raised up his fist, halting Alpha Team.

"Did anyone else hear—" Stone was cut off by an energy sword's twin blades ripping through Stone's chest.

The twin blades lifted the SPARTAN up off the ground, nearly by three feet.

With a soft wheeze, and blood dripping from the stab wounds in his chest, he died nearly instantly. Stone's assault rifle slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground. The perpetrator of the despicable act roared in anger, and retracted the twin blades. Stone's body, now devoid of all life, dropped to the the dirt below. The elite looked at Washington and began to charge at him.

Wash dove out of the elite's way, as the sprinting Sangheili extended the blades with a loud hissing sound.

"Shoot him!" Wash screamed to Wolf.

Wolf ran up behind his target, put the shotgun to the back of the elite's head, and pulled the trigger. With a single, swift shot, the elite was dead.

"Damn it… Stone." Wash scrambled to his feet, grabbed his gun, then ran to Stone.

Wash collapsed to his knees and looked down at the dead Spartan. He was quiet for a few moments.

"You were a good SPARTAN. A good man. Godspeed, Stone." Wash said solemnly.

Wolf walked over, and silently placed a hand on the armored shoulder of Wash. Wash looked up at him. Wolf nodded towards the canyon's exit. Wash shook his head.

"Right. I know, the mission… Damn it." Wash said, with a twinge of pain in his voice.

Wash picked up Stone's lifeless body and carried it with him to the end of the canyon. Wolf scouted a few feet ahead, careful not to get too far, if any more cloaked enemies were lurking around.

Wolf and Wash reached the canyon's end, which opened up into a vast valley. Human buildings were scattered across the area.

"It's too quiet. Where the hell are all the Covenant?" Wash asked aloud.

Wolf looked back to Wash.

Beta Team finally reached the end of their canyon and met up with Alpha.

"Shit. Stone." Jameson said as he walked over to Wash, attaching his MA5C assault rifle to the back of his armor.

"The cloaked elite you warned us about… He got the jump on us, killed Stone. He charged at me next, and I dove out of the way. Wolf killed the son of a bitch." Wash said solemnly.

Wolf stood silently, staring out towards the structures.

"Shit… What's the plan, sir?" Jameson asked.

"We need to go investigate those structures. Look for survivors." Wash said, pointing to the distant buildings.

"Got it." Jameson said.

The five SPARTANs crept cautiously towards the structures. Wash was carrying Stone in his arms. Wolf took point, and had his shotgun readied.

Eventually, they reached the buildings. The area was quiet.

"This feels like a trap." Red, one of the SPARTANs from Beta Team, said softly.

"Yeah, it does." Jameson agreed.

Wolf quickly moved ahead of Specter Team, and checked inside structures through windows. He pushed open a door, and aimed his shotgun into a house; nothing.

The team came to a halt when they heard a quiet crashing noise in a nearby building. Everyone that had weapons drawn aimed them at the building simultaneously. Wolf moved to the door. He pointed at Red, then pointed to the side of the wall opposite him and the door.

He held an open palm towards the rest of Specter Team. He looked at Red, then held up three fingers. He then only held up two fingers, then one, then nodded and kicked in the door. Red followed in behind him.

The two intimidating, heavily-armored SPARTANs had their guns drawn on a fairly large group of civilians, who were all cowering on the floor. Elders, and children sat near the back, terrified. People that looked more physically capable of defending themselves were gathered at the front.

"Shit." Red said as she and Wolf lowered their weapons.

Red stepped over to the door, and grabbed onto the doorframe as she hung outside. She informed the rest of Specter on the situation.

"We've got a large civilian group inside. Call for an evac." Red said quietly.

"On it." Jameson said as he opened a comms line with the UNSC ship "Ark".

Wolf stood in absolute silence, as Red came back inside the structure. She put a hand on Wolf's shoulder. He looked at her.

"Why don't you, uh, head outside, Wolf? I think your… 'stoic nature' is scaring them." Red said.

He looked at her, then at the door, then back to her. He nodded, attached his shotgun to his back, and went outside. Red attached her assault rifle the back of her maroon armor. She walked towards the civilians slowly.

"Hey. It's all right. We're here to get you out of here." Red said softly, as she extended her arms outward slightly, keeping her hands where everyone could see them.

A middle-aged man stood up to face the tall SPARTAN. Red quickly noticed a young boy was gripping the man's pant leg tightly.

"Where was the government and their help when we were starving? When our crops were dying? How about when we were being slaughtered? Up in their ships, looking down at us, no regard for us unimportant settlers." The man asked Red.

He stepped towards her, in what one could perceive as a hostile motion, and instinctively, Red's right hand flew towards the magnum handgun stationed at her side. Her hand hovered near the grip for a few seconds, as she put her left hand out in front of her, her palm facing the floor, with her fingers spread wide. The man saw Red's action, and backed off, for fear of engaging a SPARTAN.

Realizing what she'd done, Red relaxed her hands. She looked to the child.

"That your kid?" She asked, nodding slightly towards the boy.

Nervously, the man nodded his head once. Red lowered herself so she was resting the weight of her body and armor on the fronts of her feet, with her heels raised up slightly. She looked at the boy.

"Hi there." Red said to the young boy.

The boy was quiet and gripped his father's pant leg tighter, and tried to hide his face, not wanting to make eye contact with the intimidating super-soldier.

"What's your name, little guy?" Red asked.

"Tommy…" The boy said quietly, trying to hide his face in the large navy blue parka he was wearing.

Red sometimes forgot that she was a SPARTAN. She forgot what it was like for civilians to see a large SPARTAN walk up to them, armed to the teeth, separated by a cold suit of armor.

She tilted her head down, and grabbed the sides of her helmet. She clicked some buttons and released her helmet's seal, which emitted a loud hiss. The boy hid his face once again.

Red took the helmet off of her head and held it in her hands. She looked at the boy, human-to-human. It reminded the child that SPARTANs weren't machines, but humans, just like he was.

Red had fairly short hair that flopped down onto the very top of her forehead, above her left eye. It was brown, but some of it was dyed blonde. It moved slightly as a soft breeze drifted through the building from a large hole in the roof. Rarely did she remove her helmet in the field.

"My name's Red. I'm a person,

just like you. Not a machine." Red told the boy.

She had kind green eyes, with bags underneath them, from many long nights without sleep. Her short brownish-blonde hair was slightly ruffled, due to constantly wearing a bulky helmet. Her real frame underneath wasn't intimidating; In fact, it was quite the opposite.

She wasn't huge, and she didn't carry herself aggressively, like Wolf often did. She was thinner than her male counterparts, and carried a sweeter, almost maternal demeanor.

She smiled at Tommy. Her medium nose crinkled as she flashed her caring grin.

"That's a good name, Tommy. Listen, I'm going to get you, and your dad, and the rest of these people out of here, where you'll all be safe." Red said softly.

"Daddy says we'll never be safe from the monsters." Tommy said.

Red looked at the boy for a few seconds as her grin dissolved. The Covenant. These people, that were hiding in here, they were probably all that made it. A five-hundred human colony, and only… twenty-nine were left.

"What exactly are the monsters, Tommy?" Red questioned sweetly.

"They're big. Scary. They have purple metal on them and their skin is grey. One of them tried to hurt my Daddy." Tommy said.

Red glanced up at Tommy's father briefly, then back at Tommy.

"Well, we'll make sure that they don't try to hurt him or you again. Now, when was the last time you saw these… uh, monsters, Tommy?" Red questioned.

"Just last night." His dad spoke up.

Red's eyes widened at the man's words.

"They were in the fields last night, ascending up into ships, but… I don't think they're gone. Maybe just adjusting their strategies." The man said.

"Thanks." Red said to the man. "And thank you, Tommy. You be brave for your dad, okay?" Red said.

Wolf stepped back inside the building, the weak floorboards groaning beneath his presence. He looked at Red. She turned to look at the massive SPARTAN.

"Right. I'm coming, Wolf." She said aloud.

Red put her helmet back on, and clicked some buttons. It hissed, and sealed around her neck. She stood up and turned to walk back towards Wolf.

"The evacuation ship will be here soon. We'll be right outside." She said, turning her head slightly to face the crowd.

She looked back at Wolf, and the two SPARTANs walked back outside. She looked at the rest of Specter Team, then sighed.

"We have to get these people out before the Covenant returns. What's the ETA on the EVAC?" Red asked.

"They said that civilian evacuation wasn't priority number one anymore. Our primary objective is now to secure all data from the Chiron Research Station, since there isn't a heavy Covenant presence on-planet." Jameson replied.

"What?" Red asked, confused. "Th-that's bullshit. These people need to get out of here. The Covenant could return any, anytime— A fu— A fucking research station? What data could possibly be more important than these people's lives?" She asked, getting increasingly frustrated.

"I tried, Red. I really did. But Captain Rylan wants to play the asshole card. They said if we don't switch primary objectives, they'll charge us all with insubordination and disobeying a direct order from command. I'm afraid we've got no choice in the matter." Jameson continued.

"Damn it. Okay, well, what if half of us stay here, and the other half goes for the data? I mean, we can't just abandon these people." Red proposed.

"We aren't exactly operating at full capacity, Red." Jameson said.

Red looked at the ground for a few moments, pondering something.

"I'll talk to them. Maybe we can convince them that they can evac these people, and we can still go for the data." Red said to Specter Team.

"Red, that's not gonna—" Jameson stopped talking, as Red tapped at the data pad on her forearm.

"This is Specter-Three, requesting a direct communications channel with the UNSC space carrier Ark. I'd like to speak with Captain Rylan." Red said aloud.

The data pad on her forearm lit up red.

"Your request has been received, Specter-Three." An A.I. system said in a comms channel to all of Specter Team, "Unfortunately, it seems that Captain Rylan has expressly requested automatic denial of all communication requests from Specter Team. Have a lovely day, Specter-Three."

"Excuse me?" Red asked. "Are you goddamn kidding me?"

"Ark blocked communications requests from us? Can they… are they supposed to do that?" Jameson asked.

Jane, Specter-Six, spoke up.

"Well… There are actually, uh, reset codes for the comms system. It's a bit of a backdoor method, and it's certainly fairly sketchy, resetting the system unofficially, but they're there. They were designed in case enemy forces managed to shut down comms from the inside, or something malfunctioned in the field and a total system reboot was required." Jane said aloud.

"Great. Let's do it." Red said.

"Yeah, well, while it does… technically… work, it's not exactly a process we're authorized to initiate, since it's meant to be the absolute last resort measure. It shuts down, scans and reboots the entire system, for everyone using the central comms system. They would definitely realize what we're doing, from their side. And…" she took a deep breath. "Most likely, we'd be detained and jailed immediately upon the completion of this mission and our return to the Ark." Jane said.

Wash spoke up. "Even if we managed to reset the comms system, and got through to them, it's almost a guarantee that they'd just deny our evac request again."

Red sighed.

"I mean, I guess it's your call, Wash, since you're the leader." Red said, looking defeatedly at the ground.

"Well… What do you think, Red?" Wash asked.

"I… It's a bad idea." Red replied.

"I agree. As much as I don't want to, we don't have any other choice." Wash responded.

"What now, then?" Red asked.

"Red, Wolf, you two stay here and protect the civilians. Jameson, Jane and I will head up to the research station and collect the data. We won't be gone long." Wash announced.

"Got it." Red replied quickly.

She was eager to keep the civilians safe, and with Wolf helping her, they'd be even safer. Wash, Jameson, and Jane all began the hike up the nearby hill towards the Chiron research station. Wolf stood silently, clutching his black shotgun in his hands. Red looked at him for a few moments.

She turned and walked towards the building with the civilians inside. As she passed by Wolf, she patted the shoulder of his armor twice, rested her hand there, and stopped for a moment to talk.

"I'll be right inside for a moment. If you need me, come get me." She nodded her head subtly, then continued towards the building.

She walked up to the building's door, and opened it gently. She stepped inside and shut it behind her. She walked through the building for a few paces, then walked around a table in the middle of the room for a couple more paces.

She stopped and looked at the frightened people.

"We're working on getting an evac for you people. But our… superior officers are proving difficult." Red told the crowd.

People were visibly anxious.

"I'm sorry for…" Red surveyed the room.

"Well, for all of this." She continued.

The roof of the room the people were in was torn to hell, floorboards were smashed in, doors of surrounding buildings were ripped down, windows were shattered or cracked, plasma burns tattooed exterior walls, some of which were even completely destroyed, which had caused buildings to partially cave in or collapse entirely; the once-thriving colony was now in ruins, a relic of death.

"It's okay. Now the SPARTANs are here to help." A teenage girl said from near the front of the crowd.

Red could see the girl's face perfectly through her frosted visor. The hope in the girl's eyes. Red wanted so desperately to tell the girl that what she'd said was true. That the SPARTANs were here to help. That they'd save everyone in this room. But she knew she'd be lying if she did.

The girl had a slight smile on her face, the inner parts of her brown eyebrows pointing upward, her face wearing a mask of hopefulness.

"Yep. Don't worry. We'll make sure you get out safely." Red said, without realizing.

Red stood in silence for a few seconds.

"I'll be right back." Red said as she went toward the door, and opened it.

She saw Wolf as soon as she opened the door. He was looking toward the ground, and seemed to be clutching something in his hands. Red's cover of quietness was blown by both the crunching of snow beneath her heavy metal armor and the door behind her slamming shut.

He quickly pocketed the item and looked behind him at his fellow SPARTAN. Red figured it was probably best not to ask Wolf what he was holding. Not like she'd get much of an answer.

She walked over next to him. They stood quietly for a few minutes, with nothing but the whistling wind to fill the silence. Snowflakes were in the air. Not much, but enough to make Red miss what little she remembered of her old life, even just for a minute. She looked at Wolf for a moment.

"I lied to a teenage girl in there." Red said aloud.

Wolf looked at her.

"She said that she was glad the SPARTANs were here to help, and I told her we would get them all out safely. But the UNSC could pull us out at any moment. They don't care about the colonists. Just the goddamn data." Red said as she somberly surveyed the destroyed settlement.

"I hope they get back here soon." Red said as she looked up towards Chiron.

Washington, Jameson and Jane all arrived at the research station. Civilian vehicles littered the front parking lot of the station. The three SPARTANs walked through the quiet lot to get to the front doors. Their heavy armor clanked as they moved swiftly.

As they closed in on the door, Wash stopped Jameson and Jane.

"Okay, everyone stay alert when we go in." Wash said as they walked up to the door.

The three SPARTANs drew their guns from the back of their armor. They gripped them tightly as Wash pushed open the door. It was pitch black in the facility, save for a few flickering screens in the building's lobby.

"I don't like this." Jameson said quietly through his suit's comms system.

"Night vision on, Specter." Wash announced.

The three SPARTANs clicked on their night vision.

They all saw civilian bodies littering the inside of the station.

"Jesus. How many people made it out of here?" Jane asked in a hushed voice.

"I have no idea. Let's just collect any data we can and get out of here." Wash replied.

Jameson found a board depicting the layout of the station.

"We're in the lobby. Research facilities are on Level 2." Jameson said quietly, moving his gloved finger over the area they were in.

"Got it." Wash and Jane both replied.

The three SPARTANs made their way towards the stairs. They quickly and effortlessly jogged up them. They encountered a long hallway with numerous glass doors on both sides. They glided through the hallway, checking rooms on both sides quickly for any data at all that could prove useful.

Some of the glass doors leading into rooms were shattered, with glass strewn across the hallway. Bodies lined the edge of the floor in the hall, where the floor tiles met the bottom of the walls. Blood had been splattered across the floor, walls, over the glass doors and even onto the ceiling.

"Shit." Jane said as she looked at the bodies. "Whatever data was here must've been scrubbed before… all of this happened." Jane continued, waving her hand in the hair for a moment. She held a hard drive in her other hand.

"Damn it. There's no data at all? Neither one of you found anything?" Wash asked.

"No." Jane replied. "All the working computers were completely wiped. All the other computers were destroyed. The hard drives were all smashed to hell too, except for this one."

She held up a thin black hard drive.

"We can try examining this one, but I doubt anything useful's gonna be on it. All the important stuff was probably wiped." Jane said.

"Well, it's all we've got. Command's not gonna like this one." Wash said as he looked around.

They suddenly heard a quiet wheezing. It was a scientist. He was lying on the ground, with plasma burns covering his body, and blood dripping from his mouth. He stared at the SPARTANs.

"Run… ambush." The man took his last breath before dying.

The three SPARTANs turned to run for the research station's exit. Several elites leapt down from the rafters and blocked their path. They drew their energy swords.

"Humans will suffer this day." One elite said angrily.

The bright twin blades of their energy swords screamed outward, and illuminated the pitch black hallway, emitting a quiet hum as they stood ready to attack.

The light from the elite's blades temporarily blinded the SPARTANs. They flicked their night vision off quickly, to let their eyes adjust to the dark hallway.

"We don't want to engage you." Wash said.

The SPARTANs readied their guns.

"The demons will be banished to hell on this day!" The other elite roared.

They charged at the SPARTANs. It was a tight, cramped hallway, with virtually no room to dodge around the blade-wielding maniacs. They had to run towards them to bypass them.

"Try to get around them!" Wash yelled.

The three SPARTANs dropped to their knees and skidded around the sides of the elites. The elites swung at them, but missed. Wash, Jameson and Jane all jumped to their feet and took off running.

"Head for the door!" Wash screamed.

Jameson was suddenly halted when one of the elites grabbed his armor.

"Whoa!" He shouted as the elite lifted him into the air.

"You will be banished, demon!" The elite roared.

The energy-sword-wielding elite drove the twin-bladed weapon through Jameson's chest. The energy sword disappeared behind Jameson, and quickly reappeared in front of him as it ripped through his flesh and armor, splattering blood up onto the ceiling.

Jameson screamed in agony before dying quickly from the furious burn of the twin-bladed weapon.

"Jameson!" Wash screamed.

He turned to run towards Jameson, but Jane grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.

"We've gotta go! We can't save him!" She yelled.

"Damn it. I'm sorry." He thought to Jameson.

The two SPARTANs turned and ran out the main doors, abandoning Jameson inside the research station. They sprinted back down the paved road towards the settlement.

Wash and Jane reached the settlement and found Red and Wolf.

"Two elites ambushed us in the research station. They— t-those sons of bitches killed Jameson." Jane proclaimed.

Red and Wolf looked at the two SPARTANs silently, then at each other. Wolf pulled his shotgun off of his back, and gripped it tightly. He walked forward, and stood in front of Red, Wash, and Jane. He looked up towards the research station.

All four SPARTANs heard distant roars. They looked at each other. Their collective focus returned to the road leading to the research station. A few moments of quiet passed, before seeing what must've been close to a dozen elites running at full speed down the road, towards the settlement.

Some were wielding energy swords, others equipped with plasma weapons. The dozen of elites charged at the SPARTANs, as Specter Team readied their weapons.

"Fire!" Wash yelled.

Specter Team began firing at the elites. Two elites dropped, as bullets from Specter passed through their bodies, spraying a peculiar violet-colored blood back up into the air behind their armored heads, as their fresh corpses fell to the ground.

Other elites were bogged down while moving through the snow, and were hit by Specter with ease. The elites returned fire on Specter, forcing them backwards.

"Don't let them get any closer!" Wash shouted.

Specter was nearly right on top of the building with the civilians inside, and they all knew they couldn't let the building get overtaken.

The elites' superheated plasma burned the SPARTANs' armor.

"Frag out!" Red yelled as she dropped a fragmentation grenade into her palm and launched it towards the hostile Covenant forces.

The grenade exploded between elites, before it even hit the ground, launching shrapnel outward and knocking some of them into the snow below. Some had been killed, but others got up and recuperated, grabbing their weapons.

Wolf charged at the elites, firing his shotgun.

"No, Wolf, stop!" Red shouted as she ran after him.

"Shit!" Wash yelled in anger as he ran after the two SPARTANs.

Wolf dodged the energy swords of the elites as they swung at him, swiftly and impressively gliding out of the way of the maniacal alien creatures's attacks. He jumped up out of the snow and backwards several feet, before landing, and firing his shotgun directly in the face of an energy-sword-wielding elite.

Another elite sprinted around the SPARTAN, and flanked him from behind. Wolf heard the second elite shout, and dropped to the ground as he swung. The elite behind Wolf missed his target and slashed another elite that stood in front of Wolf. Purple blood sprayed from the victim's chest and throat, splattering all over the perpetrator.

The second elite roared in anger at his mistake, brought about by the agile demon ahead of him. The slashed elite screamed in anguish, before his cries faded to silence as his suddenly lifeless corpse dropped down to the snow. Wolf spun in the snow, gripped his shotgun and fired upwards into the elite's head, ejecting brain matter and the purple blood from its armored cranium up into the darkening sky above the fresh battlefield.

Red ran through the snow, followed shortly by Wash, as the female SPARTAN shot at the elites. The elites equipped with plasma weapons fired back at her, barely missing Red. Plasma shots sailed past the SPARTAN, blackening her maroon armor every time they so much as scraped it.

She screamed with raw fury as she charged the elites. She attached her assault rifle onto the back of her armor and she pulled a knife from her thigh holster. Now taking plasma shots head-on, burning her armor, she jumped towards one of the elites, grabbing his shoulder. She drove the large knife she held into his neck, spraying violet blood into the air and onto Red's armor. Blood splattered onto her frosted visor as she roared and tore into the elite.

Terrified, and in a futile attempt to help his squad-mate, the second elite tried to pull Red away from her victim. She felt him grab her shoulder, then turned and launched at him. She stabbed him in the eye, the knife's blade slipping perfectly through the armor plating on the elite's eye.

His mandibles separated as he screamed in absolute agony. Purple blood spilled out from his head and his cries were silenced momentarily. Red pulled her knife out quickly, and pulled the elite's eye out of its socket, with alien veins, muscle and tendons keeping it in place.

She pulled harder and the knife was dislodged from the eye. Red let go of the elite's armor, which caused him to fall backwards into the snow, which had been desecrated with violet Covenant blood.

Most of the elites that had attacked Specter were dead. Some were still alive, barely hanging on, trying to crawl away from the halted bloodshed. One elite, who'd been gutted like a fish, and was leaving a trail of blood under him, was pulling himself away. Wash walked up to the elite and turned him onto his back.

He groaned in agony, his entire front soaked in violet liquids, both from him and his fellow Covenant forces.

"How many drop-ships are near the planet, and how many cruisers are in orbit?" Wash asked, grabbing the elite's torso armor to raise him up off the ground slightly.

"Not telling… a demon… our… secrets…" The elite said weakly, blood dripping from his mandibles.

Wash pulled back a gloved fist and crashed it into the elite's face. It connected, whipping the his head to the side.

"You feel like telling me now?" Wash asked the elite.

The elite groaned more, blood soaking its mandibles.

"Eight… drop-ships. Two… cruisers…" He said weakly.

The elite took his final breath, before exhaling and going limp. Wash was holding nothing more than a corpse now.

Wash stared at the dead elite for a moment. He looked to the snow at his side. He sighed quietly and dropped the Sangheili down into the snow.

He looked at the ground for a moment. He turned to Jane and pointed at her.

"Jane. How long would it take for you to reboot the UNSC comms? To get us a line to command?" He asked as he walked towards her.

"Uh, sir, I don't think that's—" Jane was cut off by Wash.

"I don't care what you think, Jane. I care about what you know, so just tell me. How long?" Wash asked.

"I, uh…" Jane sighed. "Most likely? Probably about… erm… eight minutes. Three to get in, five for it to reboot and run diagnostics." Jane responded. "But sir, I—"

"Look, Jane, I don't care if the UNSC tries us for treason, or whatever they want to do. We've got all the data that was there to retrieve, two SPARTANs are dead, and we have a large group of civilians that need to be evacuated. I don't give a fuck what the UNSC does to me. I'll take all the blame, Jane. Just reset the system." Wash said assertively.

"Right away sir." Jane said as she opened her data pad and got to work on the comms system.

"Red, go inform those people help is on the way." Wash commanded.

Wolf stood on alert, scanning the settlement for any hostiles. His hands gripped his shotgun, his pointer finger squeezing the trigger tightly. Red walked towards the building housing the civilians, the snow crunching beneath her heavy maroon armor, now sporting countless plasma burn marks. She attached her assault rifle to the back of her armor as she stepped inside the building.

"An evac ship's on the way. You're all be out of here soon enough." Red announced.

"What happened out there?"

It was the teenage girl from earlier. The one Red had lied to.

"The Covenant. They tried to hurt all of you, but we managed to stop them. You're all safe." Red said in a hushed tone, careful to not scare the young children.

Another lie. Red knew exactly how much of a presence the Covenant maintained on the planet. And how likely it was that the UNSC wouldn't extract these people. Hell, they might not even come back for Specter.

The teenage girl ran up to Red, arms stretched out wide. Red's SPARTAN instincts immediately kicked in, and the female SPARTAN readied herself for an attack. The teenage girl reached Red, and wrapped her outstretched arms around the bulky warrior. It wasn't a threat, just… a hug.

Shocked, Red didn't know what to do. Awkwardly, Red put her arms on the girl's back, reciprocating the warm hug. It was the first time the SPARTAN had ever been hugged. Growing up within the cold confines of the UNSC since her early childhood, groomed to be nothing more than an emotionless killing machine, conditioned to be incapable of experiencing anything that could identify itself as uniquely human, Red never felt anything such as a hug.

A salute? Of course. A solemn handshake? Occasionally. But never a hug. It was… oddly comforting. Red had seen two of her squad-mates fall to the Covenant in a single mission, and the female SPARTAN realized she just needed some semblance of comfort. She just needed someone to tell her it would be okay. That she would make it out of this alive.

She hadn't noticed she'd closed her eyes in the hug.

Red snapped back to reality when Wolf walked inside the building. His tall, bulky frame worried some of the civilians. He stared at them for a few moments before looking back at the door. He looked at Red, then nodded toward the door, without looking at anything other than the SPARTAN.

"Okay." Red whispered.

She let go of the teenage girl.

"I have to go back outside now." She announced. "But help will be here soon."

Red glanced at the teenage girl as she stepped backwards, and pivoted on her left foot to walk towards the door. Red grabbed the door handle and pushed it open.

She stepped outside, the snow crunching beneath her heavy armor. There were still snowflakes in the air. The corpses of the Elites that were scattered in the colony were being covered with the fresh powder.

Red stared at the Elites' corpses.

"What's the ETA on the EVAC?" Red asked.

"They're fifteen minutes out." Wash responded.

Red sighed. "Good."

Wash looked at the ground for a few moments. Red kept her eyes on Specter's leader, as he surveyed the recent battleground.

He seemed nervous.

"What's wrong?" Red asked, nearly ready to join Wash in his worry.

"Something feels off. Jane, Wolf, keep an eye on the environment. Watch for anything that moves, and react accordingly. Red, come with me." Wash directed.

Wolf readied his shotgun and Jane pulled the handgun off her armor's magnetized thigh-plating and held it tightly. Red followed Wash a short distance away from their fellow SPARTANs.

"What did you need, Sir?" Red asked, feeling a unsettling feeling growing from deep within her.

"Nothing, really. Just wanted to talk." Wash replied.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about?" Red asked.

"It's just, that…" Wash sighed. "Does this feel off to you, at all? Don't you think it's strange that the Covenant wouldn't hit a colony planet with full force?" He continued.

"Well, they did, before we got here." Red responded, almost knowing exactly what Wash would say next.

"Exactly. That's my point. They know SPARTANs are planet-side, that we've made contact with survivors. They sure as hell know that we were in the research station. They've got two cruisers, eight drop-ships, so why have they been hitting us with small strike teams?" Wash proclaimed, with a twinge of worry hiding in his voice.

"I understand. It's strange, given how historically the Covenant's reacted to SPARTANs, why they've been hesitant to engage us en masse." Red agreed, dusting snowflakes off of her helmet's visor.

"Yeah. Well… be on high alert. We aren't safe until we're back on the Ark."

Red surveyed her surroundings. It was snowing again. Not much, just a little. The snow almost made her wish she had a simpler life. But she didn't, and there was no changing that now.

She turned back to the building with the colonists inside. She felt bad for lying to them. Red wasn't sure if they'd survive long enough to make it back to the Ark, or if the Ark would even allow Specter to return with the colonists in tow.

Jane scanned the snow-covered fields surrounding the colony buildings.

"It's quiet." She said aloud.

Wolf looked at her. She glanced over at him.

"Kind of a rare moment, huh? The peace. The silence. It's nice." Jane continued.

Wolf stared at her for a few seconds, then turned his gaze back to the fields, still tightly gripping his shotgun.

"Can I be honest with you, Wolf?" Jane asked.

Wolf looked in her direction, but not at her.

"I don't know why the Covenant have just let us beat them back so easily." Jane said. "I mean, it seems strange that they don't want to fight back against us." She added.

"Jane!" Red yelled for Jane.

"Oh, huh? Oh, uh, well, keep an eye out, Wolf. I'll be right back." Jane said as she stepped away from her position.

Jane walked over to Red, who was waiting for her.

"You needed me for something?" Jane asked.

"Just wanted to see how you're doing." Red replied.

Jane looked at her for a few seconds, processing Red's question. She glanced at the ground, then back to Red.

"I… I don't know. Alright, I guess. I just can't believe we've lost Stone and Jameson. We can't even go back for Jameson's body." Jane said somberly.

"I know. It's… this whole operation has fallen apart. First Stone, then Jameson, then the attack on us and the colonists, it's just strange." Red responded, as she brushed the snow off of her helmet's visor.

Washington heard a scratching noise in his ear.

"What…" Washington said, confused.

It was the communication channel coming to life.

"Contact, Specter-1. Confirm contact, Specter-1." The communication channel said.

"Contact confirmed, Ark. This is Specter-1. Is there an updated ETA for our colonist evacuation?" Washington asked, silently hoping for good news.

"Specter-1, this is Ark command. Your evacuation is on its way. Pelicans are inbound to your location to receive Opus colonists and your team, Specter-1. Make sure you stay at the LZ, you'll have a limited window when they arrive to load everyone in." Ark command reported.

"Excellent. I'll ensure my team and the colonists are prepped for the evac's arrival. Specter-1 out." Washington said as he closed the communication channel.

Washington stepped over to Wolf.

"Evac's on its way. Keep watch on the colonists, I'm going to go notify Red and Jane." Washington said.

Wolf nodded, as Washington moved towards the two female SPARTANs. Red saw him and turned. Jane did the same.

"New orders, sir?" Jane asked.

Washington responded. "Evac's on the way. We need to make sure the colonists are prepped. I want you and Jane to stay here and make sure they're ready to go. Wolf and I are going to go retrieve Jameson's… body." Washington ordered.

"Yes, sir." Red responded as she stepped past Washington and began to walk towards the colonists.

Jane followed her. Washington turned his head as the Red and Jane walked away. He'd lost two SPARTANs. Both times under his lead. He sighed heavily, as if to try to expel the weight guilt from his soul. He turned to walk over to Wolf.

The snow crunched beneath Washington. In the short distance between him and the quiet SPARTAN, he had a moment to think. All he focused on was the sound of the snow below him. He needed to stay strong.

He couldn't let their faith in him be shaken. Not any more than it already was, at least. Red stepped into the near-lifeless building that held the colonists, and turned to glance at Washington as she did so.

She could tell simply by the way he'd commanded Wolf, Jane and herself after the loss of Stone and Jameson. Washington always did all he could to keep emotions off the battlefield, but today was different. He'd formed a bond with every one of his squad-mates. Losing one was like losing a sibling.

Red blinked several times. She entered the building. She faced the colonists as she removed her helmet. It emitted a quiet hiss as she disengaged the armor locks.

"Help's on its way. Pelicans are inbound as we speak, for your evacuation. It won't be much longer now, you'll all be safe and sound on the Ark." Red announced.

She knew she wasn't giving them the full truth. They'd be safe for a short while, sure, but in the long-term, no-one was ever really safe. Not with the Covenant lurking around every corner in the galaxy. They didn't need to know.

Just give them hope, she reasoned with herself. They might not survive more than a month, given how things have been going thus far.

The colonists murmured quietly. Happy to finally make their way out of this hell they were trapped in. Red raised her helmet and reattached it. She shut her eyes and let the hissing of the armor locks surround her for a few seconds.

"You're almost out." She said aloud.

Jane looked at her briefly. She placed her hand on Red's shoulder and patted it gently.

"I'll be outside." Jane said softly.

"Got it. I'll… I'll be out in a moment." Red replied.

Jane left the small building. The door slammed shut. Red looked at the ground. She glanced at the colonists momentarily.

"You're almost out." She thought to herself.

She turned towards the exit and stepped over to it, her conscience weighing down heavily on her. The burden of loss.

As she opened the door to leave the building, a colonist spoke up. A younger man, maybe in his mid-twenties.

"I… I'm sorry about your friend. The, the other SPARTAN. I didn't see him come back with them, and… then I heard from outside. I'm sorry for what happened to him." The young man said.

Red looked at him. It was like this person had come to her directly to relieve an immense burden from her.

"Thanks." She smiled, though none of them could see it. "I'm sorry for what happened too."

She turned back to look outside, and then stepped out. The door closed behind her.

At the research station, Washington and Wolf stepped in through the door. Glass from the entrance doors crunched beneath them. They both readied their weapons.

"Stay on your guard, Wolf. Elites could still be in here. Night vision up." Washington whispered though the communication line.

Washington and Wolf clicked on the night vision on their helmets. They moved swiftly through the research station and up the stairs to the hallway they'd searched earlier in the operation.

They reached the top of the stairs and stepped into the hall. They crept through, checking the rafters for any surprises, like there had been earlier.

Both SPARTANs stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him. Jameson. The two of them had seen more death in this war than most people would be able to handle.

But it still hit hard. Washington knew it was his fault. He was the reason that Jameson had been killed in action. Washington holstered his DMR on his back and crouched down.

"I'm sorry." He thought as he went to put his hands under Jameson's arms to pick him up.

But he stopped. He noticed something. A bright light at the end of the hallway. From one of the work stations. The power systems had been obliterated long ago and the station had been dark since before Specter even touched down on the planet.

Washington gently took his hands away from Jameson's body. He was far more concerned by the strange light. He stood up and began to walk towards the end of the hall. Wolf trailed behind him cautiously.

The two SPARTANs moved swiftly through the dark corridor of the research station. Washington was growing more curious with each passing second. They reached the work station. They'd stopped several feet away. Washington drew his magnum. Wolf readied his shotgun.

Wash turned his head to look at Wolf. He held up three fingers. Wolf nodded. Wash counted down, then jumped from cover to rush the work station.

Guns drawn, the two SPARTANs were ready for a fight. But nothing was there. Only a computer, which had been turned on. The bright light of the monitor illuminated the small cubicle.

Washington sighed. He holstered his magnum and Wolf lowered his shotgun. Washington stared at the monitor for a few seconds. A blank desktop, with nothing on it.

Wash thought he'd caught a glimpse of something. He looked closer. The desktop had file links on it. It was a computer that hadn't been wiped. They'd finally found something worthwhile.

Jameson had died for something.

The two SPARTANs heard a noise behind them, glass crunching. They whipped around, guns drawn, ready to end whatever was standing in front of them. It was an elite. It raised its hands in an attempt to tell them not to fire.

"Wh-what? What the hell's going on here? If you don't speak right now, I'm emptying this magazine in you." Washington said aggressively, lurching towards the elite.

"I, I am not an aggressor. I am, as Kor'Drasum. You would know me by my name in you language. T-the la-language of the demon." The elite said nervously, clenching his tri-fingered fists.

"Why are you here? What are you after?" Washington asked loudly, getting angrier.

"I am… I am apologetic for the actions of my kind. I never… I was forced to walk this path, the path of the Great Journey." Kor'Drasum said quietly.

"What the hell is the Great Journey?" Washington asked, keeping his gun aimed at Kor'Drasum.

"It is what they say will lead us to the salvation. We are all meant to walk the path to the Beyond. To complete the Great Journey and ascend. The Prophets say we must find the artifacts. That we can find them all and ascend to meet the old ones. The first ones." Kor'Drasum said, hoping it could make the SPARTANs trust him more.

"That's really helpful, but it also sounds like complete bullshit." Washington said.

"I am truthful, demon. I… I know little of your culture, as you know little of mine. But we are not so distant. We both blindly worship false deities, when often we wish not to. Rejecting our faith ends in bloodshed." Kor'Drasum said in a serious tone.

"Kill me demon. Please. A demise perpetrated by a demon would be a more honorable death than sacrificing myself for a Shepard I do not follow. For a deity I do not worship. Please. Kill me demon. To die in battle is better death than dying for the Prophets." Kor'Drasum said, closing his thin eyes.

Washington lowered his gun, just a little, as if to signify silently that the elite's tale of self-hatred and distrust of his superiors impacted him.

"I… I understand. I wouldn't want to sacrifice myself for something I didn't believe in either." Washington said.

"You will kill me demon?" The elite asked.

Washington sighed. He was silent for a moment.

"Yes." He replied. "Keep an eye on him, Wolf." Washington said as he turned back to the computer.

Wolf kept his shotgun aimed at the solemn elite while Washington transferred the data to a storage device he still had from when they first arrived at Chiron.

"I got it. Let's go." Washington said quietly. "Come on." He said to Kor'Drasum.

The three were silent the entire time as they walked down the hall, Kor'Drasum leading the group, with both SPARTANs maintaining their aim at him. It was strange. Unsettling. They knew they were taking him to his death.

It was like the other elites. Like other people. Killing faceless forces on the battlefield. Creatures you didn't know. This was different. This wasn't killing for the sake of winning a war. This was murder. Both Washington and Wolf knew this creature's name. Its beliefs, its wishes.

The three marched onward. They arrived in the main lobby. Wolf watched the elite while Washington carried Jameson out of Chiron. They stepped out into the cold air.

The three stood in the parking lot. The elite breathed one final heavy sigh, as if to confess to all of his sins at once.

"I am ready." Kor'Drasum said.

Washington handed Jameson's body off to Wolf.

"I'm sorry." Washington said to Kor'Drasum.

"No. You have done me a greater service than you will ever realize." Kor'Drasum said.

"That doesn't make this any easier for me." Washington put his magnum handgun to the back of the elite's head and pulled the trigger.

He was gone. Kor'Drasum's lifeless corpse dropped to the paved ground. No ceremony, no glorious death, just gone.

Washington and Wolf began the short walk back to the town.

"I don't want to talk about this with them, okay?" Washington said to Wolf.

Wolf nodded in silent response.

After several minutes, they arrived back in the small settlement. They met back up with Red and Jane.

"God. Jameson. You deserved better than this. Stone did too." Red said quietly, likely to herself more than anyone else.

"How're we lookin' on the EVAC?" Washington asked Jane.

"They're close. It's likely it'll be a hot recovery." The yellow-armored SPARTAN looked up to Covenant forces lying dormant in the sky.

Banshees circled overhead like vultures scanning for a corpse, leaving brief energy trails behind them as they moved.

"Got it." Washington replied. He turned to Red. "Red, get inside, tell everyone to get ready to leave. The EVAC's nearly here." Washington shouted.

"On it, sir." Red made her way to the shack with the colonists inside.

"Hey, listen up everyone. The evacuation ships are almost here. Make sure you're ready, then come outside." Red announced to the crowd.

They stirred. Visibly shaken, as they were stepping out into legitimate danger. Red left the shack for possibly the final time, letting the door slam behind her.

The sky above Specter Team was beginning to darken. Clouds were moving in. It crackled and boomed miles away. This evacuation effort would have to be swift and perfectly executed.

Jane surveyed the surrounding environment. There were large mountains nearby. The two SPARTANs watched as two Pelican drop-ships entered their view.

"Hey, the EVAC's here." Jane said into her comms system.

Wolf turned to walk back towards the shack. Jane followed. Specter Team regrouped once again next to the colonists' shack. The large group began to slowly make their way out into the cold, snowy environment.

The Pelicans prepared to touch down. One did so first, and the second circled the settlement a couple hundred yards up in the air.

Specter Team directed the colonists towards the Pelican. The colonists walked to it and loaded inside. As the group made their way inside, Red saw the teenage girl she'd spoken with earlier, as well as Tommy and his father, all towards the back of the group.

"Hey, we're full in here, we'll have to bring the other bird down." The Pelican's pilot said to Specter.

"Sounds good." Red said as she looked up at the Banshees overhead.

She cut off the back of the group.

"You'll have to load into the other Pelican. It's touching down in a moment." She told them.

They murmured but didn't object. They moved away from the Pelican as it closed and proceeded to lift up into the air.

It moved away from the settlement, opposite of the Covenant forces. Soon, it cleared the horizon and was on its way back to the UNSC Ark.

The second Pelican circled back around and cleared an area for landing. Within what seemed like seconds, Specter's comms system was filled with screaming and static.

A blast from the Covenant forces above had struck the Pelican, and the massive drop-ship was spiraling out of control and rapidly descending towards the colony.

Specter, along with the colonists felt an overwhelming wave of dread wash over them.

"Everybody run!" Red screamed.

Red and Wolf ran towards the colonists while Washington and Jane moved in the opposite direction. Another blast struck the Pelican, with frightening accuracy, knocking it off the course Specter thought it would be on.

It flung the Pelican into the ground right next the colonists, smashing into what seemed like millions of pieces.

Giant metal shards screamed as they were ripped from the body of the ship and slingshotted into buildings, completely obliterating them in the process. The Pelican collided with the ground, bouncing back up into the air and smashing down, now splitting in half.

At some point, the Pelican had erupted in flames and had begun raining flaming metal down upon the colony. Half of the Pelican had broken off and smashed into the group of colonists, and well as Red and Wolf, while the other half made its way through buildings, bulldozing them in the process.

The second piece was nearing Washington and Jane. As it rolled and flipped, jagged shards broke off and impaled Jane in the back. She screamed in agony for only a moment as she dropped to the ground.

Washington turned to go back for her, forgetting that a large piece of a Pelican was right behind them. It smashed into him, throwing him to the ground, shredding his armor, tearing it apart and crushing it.

After several more yards, the giant metal shard reached its end. It pushed into the ground, which managed to slow it just enough to stop it.

Washington moaned in pain as he struggled to move in his impaired MJOLNIR armor. He crawled towards Jane to help her.

She was already gone. She was gone before Washington had even hit the ground. He rested his helmet on the ground, his smashed and cracked visor nearly impossible to see out of.

Wolf and Red had been only somewhat luckier. Red jumped out of the way in time, pushing several colonists to the ground with her, saving them from being crushed.

Wolf was nowhere to be seen.

"Wolf! W… Wolf! Where—" Red grunted in soreness. "W-Where are you?" She shouted.

She made sure the colonists were okay.

"How are all of you? Is everyone alright?" She asked.

"Not everyone made it." A young voice said.

It was the teenage girl she'd spoken with earlier.

"But all of you are okay?" Red asked, sweating intensely.

"Yes." They responded with a collective feeling of relief.

"Okay… I need to look for my squad-mate." She said as she stumbled to her feet.

"Wolf! Wolf!" Red cried out, her entire body aching in pain.

She grabbed her neck and unlocked the seal on her helmet. It hissed and she pulled it off. Ash and snow falling around her, wind blowing through her short brownish-blonde hair, she yelled out as loudly as she could for her fellow SPARTAN.

"Wolf! Wolf! Please! Answer… me… Wolf." She was beginning to give up.

Then she saw him. Lying there among the rubble and wreckage. He was barely moving, but he was there. She sprinted towards him with the what little energy she had left.

"Oh, god, thank god, you're still alive. I was worried, I couldn't find you." She panted.

Wolf was clutching something in his hand. He grabbed Red's hand and put it in her palm and closed her fingers around it. It was a folded-up picture of Wolf, a woman, and a child. The photo was stained with dried blood. Both Covenant, and human.

He grabbed his helmet and disengaged the seals. It hissed and the cracked visor went dark. Wolf slowly pulled his helmet off.

"Oh… my god." Red thought to herself.

"Make sure… they put that picture… on my memorial. And make sure it… says, something… good." The SPARTAN said quietly, his eyes slowly starting to close.

Wolf's dark brown hair was waving gently with the breeze, and the stubble on his face was dotted with blood, as his jaw had been scratched up badly.

"I am not going to let you die today, Wolf." Red said as she pulled the SPARTAN up.

She stood up and pulled him up to his feet with her.

"You… You don't need… to do… this." He said in pain.

"I do. I'm not letting you die today." Red said as she walked him out of the wreckage.

Wolf breathed heavily as him and Red made their way through the carnage and back out into the open.

"Rest here for a second, Wolf. I need to gather the colonists." Red said as she took her arm away from him.

Red left her fellow SPARTAN in search of the colonists. Only a handful had survived the wreck. They were afraid, worried that they were in mortal danger.

"It's alright, everyone. We're going to call another EVAC ship for us." Red said, her forehead dripping with sweat.

"Shit. This whole operation's been a mess." She whispered to herself as she stepped away from the crowd.

She walked back over to Wolf. He looked up at her from where he sat on the ground.

"I have to find Washington and Jane. I'll be right back." Red said as she moved past the SPARTAN.

As she looked around for either of her missing squad-mates, she bumped into something on the ground. Wolf's shotgun. She picked it up off the ground and attached it to the back of her armor.

Red stumbled through the carcass of the colony.

"Wash! Jane! Where are you?" She shouted.

Her body ached. She looked around, but all that she saw was large shards of metal burrowing into the snow and soil beneath her, and flaming buildings caving in.

She hung her head in silent pain. But then she heard something. Wheezing. Coughing. Her head shot up and she looked around.

"Wash! Jane! Is that either of you?" She yelled.

"Red…" Washington said, just barely audible.

"Oh, god, Wash!" Red said to herself as she ran to her downed leader.

She grabbed Washington and flipped him over, onto his back. He groaned in pain as she did so.

"Shit… Wash, what's wrong?" Red asked nervously.

"I… The… Thing cru… Crushed… me… Can't… Oh… My… My legs…" Washington could barely form complete sentences, as he had been nearing unconsciousness for the last several minutes.

Red tapped on the screen on her forearm to open a communication channel with the Ark.

Several nerve-wracking seconds passed, punctuated by a delightful chirping noise.

COMMUNICATION CHANNEL REQUESTED WITH THE UNSC STARSHIP 'ARK'. COMMUNICATION REQUESTED FULFILLED. ESTABLISHING CHANNEL.

Red waited a few more seconds. A single quick chirp was emitted from the screen and it lit up bright blue.

The connection was spotty at first, clouded with static. The connection quickly cleared up.

"Specter-Three, is everyone alright down there?" Captain Rylan, of the UNSC Ark, asked, sounding both annoyed and relieved.

"Captain, we were left stranded planet-side when an unidentifiable Covenant aircraft struck one of your Pelicans. It crashed, and… and we lost a SPARTAN." Red said, breathing heavily, as she looked over to Jane, who had been impaled.

Red, noticing now that Washington had stopped moving mere seconds ago, quickly grabbed his forearm and tapped his data pad awake.

She jumped to his vital signs tab. She sighed what very well might have been the heaviest sigh of her life.

"Make that… two… SPARTANs, sir."

She gently set his arm down.

She stood up.

"We need another Pelican down here, sir. Specter-Four and I are still alive, along with numerous colonists." Red said as she turned to walk back Wolf.

"Copy that, Specter-Three, there's another Pelican inbound right now. ETA is five minutes." Captain Rylan said.

"Copy that, sir," Red said, glaring. "We'll be ready for 'em."

She closed the communication channel. She walked over to Wolf, her heavy maroon armor clanking as she moved.

She held her hand out to Wolf. He grabbed it and she pulled him up. She walked back over to where she pulled him from earlier and grabbed his helmet.

He followed close behind her. She turned to him. She handed Wolf his helmet, and reached down to grab her own that she'd removed earlier as well.

"Let's finish this, Wolf." Red said as she placed her helmet on her head.

She clicked the locks. They engaged and the helmet hissed as it sealed. Wolf did the same, and the locks on his helmet hissed as well. He looked up at the sky.

"Son of a bitch." He said aloud.

"Wh—" Red looked up as well. "You've got to be kidding me."

It was a Covenant drop-ship, and it was slowly flying towards them. They watched it as it came to a halt and hovered in front of them.

The side opened and three elites, all donning black armor accented with silver jumped from the ship, wielding energy weapons. As they landed, snow launched up all around them, as their heavy frames collided with the ground.

The only noise was the sound of the wind. They all stared at each other for a few moments.

"The demons shall perish this day." The elite in front said.

He readied his energy weapon, which was a staff with two prongs on each end. The other two elites were equipped with the same.

"You have interfered with our Journey, demons. We have been sent to stop you." The leader of the squadron said.

"We've interfered, huh? I guess your 'journey' involves ripping apart a village of innocent colonists." Red said aloud.

"Your pathetic settlement is a disgusting stain on the galaxy. You demons deserve not to spread. Your species will vanish by the hands of the Disciples of the Prophets." The elite said.

Red quickly drew her handgun and started firing at their leader. He spun his staff, disintegrating several bullets. The bullets he couldn't hit sailed into him.

He had no noticeable response to the pain. The three elites sprinted towards Red and Wolf, all with their staffs readied.

Red pulled Wolf's shotgun off of her back and handed it to Wolf. He cocked it, and fired at one of the elites unbind towards them.

The shotgun tore through the elite's side, ripping his flesh to shreds. The elite winced in obvious pain, but continued his charge forward.

The elite reached striking distance and swung quickly and aggressively. Wolf jumped backwards and narrowly avoided the attack.

Cocking his shotgun, Wolf aimed at the elite and fired. The elite's head exploded, launching violet blood and brain matter up into the air behind him, before his corpse dropped to the ground.

Wolf turned his attention to the other elites, who were fighting Red. One elite noticed what Wolf had done, and split off to run at him.

Red slammed her fist into the side of the elite's head when he became distracted by his squad-mate turning to Wolf.

He yelled in pain and Red quickly ripped the knife from her holster and stabbed it into the elite's neck. He roared and kicked Red in the chest, sending her flying back through the air and down to the snow.

She held her chest.

"Damn it…" Red groaned.

The elite marched over to her. He stabbed his energy staff down at Red's arm, with both prongs landing on either side of her forearm.

The elite's breath was visible on the cold air. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the elite ripped the staff from the ground and held it above his head. He readied to impale the demon before him.

She swept her leg towards the elite and knocked him off-balance. He slammed into the ground hard, letting go of his weapon in an attempt to brace himself. Red and the elite struggled to get to their feet.

Wolf maneuvered around the elite's attacks, narrowly avoiding a stab that sailed right past his head. He turned his body as the staff passed in front of his cracked visor, burning brightly even as the sun rose over the distant horizon in front of him.

Wolf grabbed the energy staff by its grip and ripped it from the elite's hands. In a moment of shock, the elite was frozen, unsure of what to do.

Wolf swung the staff back and forth, carefully stinging the elite in his sides, like a paper cut. Suddenly, Wolf jumped up into the air, spun, and brought the staff down into the elite's neck, severing his head and right arm entirely. He was given no time to scream or plead; Within seconds, the elite was gone.

As the elite dropped to the ground, blowing snow up as the corpse fell, Wolf turned back and sprinted towards Red, who was in a fistfight with her elite.

He swung at her, and she dodged. She struck back, her balled up hand crashing into the elite's mandibles, which made an audible crunching noise. He gurgled as he swung wildly at her. She dodged the strikes, but he managed to smash his tri-fingered fist into her visor, cracking it even more.

Red stumbled backwards, tripping and falling to the ground. The elite held his mandibles as he slowly stumbled towards her, ready to kill.

Wolf charged ahead and blindsided the elite from his side. He slammed into the elite, knocking him several feet away from Red and down to the snow-covered ground. Wolf raised a fist and slammed it down into the elite's face.

Wolf repeatedly slammed his fist into the elite's face, smashing his skull in. In an act of sudden rage, Wolf grabbed the elite's mandibles and pulled each side in opposite directions.

The elite thrashed beneath the grey SPARTAN. He screamed in agony. Red shook off her stunned state to realize what Wolf was doing.

She heard the screaming. The horrible screaming. Elites never screamed, never gave up. What Wolf was doing was brutal. Too brutal.

"Wolf! Wolf, stop! F-fuck, st-stop! Stop, god damn it!" Red yelled at Wolf, as she rolled off her back and onto her side, bracing herself with her right arm to face Wolf.

"Stop! Please! No! Help me!"

Wolf froze. He realized what he was doing. He'd heard her voice. Her… voice.

"Wolf, you… you can't do that… if you kill him like that, you're no better than they are." Red said as she rose to her feet.

The elite moaned in pain, his mandibles starting to tear apart.

"Finish… what you've… started, demon… I will… perish, honorably." The elite could barely utter his final words through his torn-apart, shattered mandibles.

Wolf reached back and pulled the knife from his thigh holster. He put it to the elite's neck, the blade prepped and ready to slash. He hesitated.

"Wolf. Come on. It's over. It's… it's over." Red said, out of breath.

She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Daddy! Please! No! Daddy, help!" He heard their distant screams.

Wolf put his knife away. He stood up. The elite was surprised. He wasn't going to die at the hands of a truly formidable foe. Someone that was as equal in combat tactics as in strength. He was going to bleed out, broken, battered and crushed on the battlefield, alone.

Wolf stepped off of the elite.

"We have to find the colonists. And… their bodies." Red said as she stepped away from Wolf, scanning the area.

High up in the atmosphere, the Covenant ships sat with eager readiness.

"Have the demons been vanquished?"

"No, Prophet. They…"

"They what? Go on, inform us of your results, General." The Prophet said with anticipation.

"The Vanquishers have… contact has been lost, Prophet." The General said, hanging his head in shame, as he stood before a hologram display of his superior.

"You informed myself and the rest of the Prophets that these, these, Vanquishers… would be more than enough to drive the demons off of this planet." The Prophet said calmly, but aggressively.

"Prophet, please, allow my forces to—" The General was cut off by the Prophet.

"Perhaps, General, if you can not vanquish the demons, if you are unsuccessful in driving these… humans… from their planet, then maybe… there is no place suitable for you or your pathetic forces on the Great Journey." The Prophet said smugly.

"What?" The General said, a wave of shock spilling over him. "No, Prophet, I beg of you, allow me more time, and I will—"

"No! The decision has been affirmed. The Prophets have decided that you can not accompany us to the Beyond." The Prophet said in a hushed tone, careful not to embarrass the General in front of his troops.

"Would you like to inform those under you command that they will no longer be joining us on the Great Journey?" The Prophet continued, cocking his head at the General.

"Please, Prophet, this mistake belongs to me. Do not let them suffer in this plane for my incompetence." The General pleaded.

"Enough of your groveling, you pathetic, sniveling Xeol worm!" The Prophet shouted.

"Your forces will understand the consequence of failure to its highest degree. And they will understand that it is a result of your action." The Prophet said in a more calm tone.

The General hung his head in shame.

"Yes, Prophet. I will inform… them… of my action." He said quietly.

"Your incompetence will never be forgotten… and your arrogance will never be forgiven. This is the final time we are to speak." The Prophet said, as the hologram disappeared.

The elite looked around the suddenly darker war room. He scratched his forehead as he turned to leave the room.

He walked down the long violet corridors of his assault cruiser, passing troops by the dozen. He looked at each of them, and though they couldn't see it, they could sense something was wrong.

The General made his way to the large hangar where his forces prepared for deployment. He activated the Covenant's form of an intercom to communicate with his troops.

His forces stood, eagerly awaiting his orders. Orders… that would never come. He sighed heavily.

"What I shall tell you is delivered with deep, deep regret. I can never entirely convey my shame and guilt. Due to my… incompetence as a General, and as direct orders from the Council of Prophets… I am stepping down as active Commander of this fleet." The General said shamefully.

A murmur swept over the crowd, each subset of troops speaking to their fellow kind in their native tongues. The General urged them to quiet down.

"And…" He sighed heavily. "And I also must inform you all… that the Prophets have decided none of us will follow them into the Beyond on the Great Journey."

The crowd erupted with fury and noise. Some were shocked or angered, while others who had been forced into this duty were relieved.

"I deeply regret the action I have taken… but there is nothing more I can do." The General said as he closed his eyes.

Wolf and Red stumbled through the wreckage, looking for corpses or colonists. They'd already found Jameson and Stone's bodies.

"I think I found them! Red shouted to Wolf.

She ran to them. Washington and Jane.

"She had already known their fates, but seeing them again, like this… it didn't sit right with her. Nothing ever really did." She dragged Washington's body as Wolf ran over and picked up Jane.

The two SPARTANS brought their squad-mates over to the landing zone. As they made their way through the destroyer colony, they came across the colonists hiding in a devastated house. They all walked towards freedom. The Pelican they had called for earlier had arrived.

The Pelican awaited Specter and the colonists. As Specter loaded the colonists and their squad-mates into the drop-ship, something fell out of Washington's equipment satchel. A data drive.

It must've been the one from Chiron. She put it away in her own cargo pouch and loaded into the Pelican. Wolf got in after her, after making sure they'd gotten everything.

The ship lifted up into the air and was quickly on its way back to the UNSC Ark. The mission was over.


End file.
